Darrell Williams v. HHS - Influenza, abscess (2025)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Darrell Williams, a 61-year-old adult, filed a petition on September 2, 2020, alleging that an influenza vaccine he received on October 5, 2018, caused adverse effects including pain and an abscess. The vaccine was administered by a mobile vaccination entity that was later found to have exercised inadequate safety controls, leading to similar abscess injuries in other individuals.
Respondent opposed the claim, arguing it did not meet the statutory requirement of suffering residual effects for at least six months post-vaccination. Mr.
Williams reported a painful lump on his right arm where he received the vaccination, which his wife had lanced. His primary care physician, Dr.
Stephen Karem, diagnosed an abscess on January 2, 2019, incised it, and sent drainage for cultures. Follow-up visits in January and February 2019 showed improvement, with notes indicating he was still on medication for mycobacteremia but that his arm was better.
No further treatment notes specifically related to the abscess were filed after February 2019. Mr.
Williams later submitted an affidavit in December 2024, stating the abscess remained painful and sensitive through May 2019, approximately seven and a half months post-vaccination. The court noted that this case was initiated alongside related petitions, and a test case ruling in Silvers v.
Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs. had previously found entitlement for a similar vaccine-associated abscess.
However, in this specific case, the court found that the petitioner's affidavit, filed six years after vaccination and unsubstantiated by contemporaneous medical records or opinions, was insufficient to prove the severity requirement. The court reasoned that the Vaccine Act prohibits findings based solely on a petitioner's claims without substantiation from medical records or opinions, and the existing medical records suggested the abscess had largely resolved well before six months post-onset.
Therefore, the court dismissed the case for failure to meet the six-month severity threshold. Chief Special Master Brian H.
Corcoran issued the decision on April 28, 2025.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Darrell Williams, age 61, received an influenza vaccine on October 5, 2018. He alleged adverse effects including pain and an abscess. Medical records from January 2, 2019, show diagnosis and treatment of an abscess by Dr. Stephen Karem, with follow-up visits in January and February 2019 indicating improvement. No further treatment notes for the abscess exist after February 2019. Petitioner submitted an affidavit in December 2024, stating the abscess remained painful and sensitive through May 2019. Respondent argued the claim failed the statutory six-month severity requirement. Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran dismissed the case on April 28, 2025, finding the petitioner's affidavit, filed six years post-vaccination and unsubstantiated by contemporaneous medical records or opinions, insufficient to prove the required six-month duration of residual effects. The decision noted the absence of medical record evidence corroborating continued treatment or severity beyond four and a half months post-vaccination, and found the affidavit alone could not meet the statutory threshold.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-01120